Need quick Answer...

[Jagland]

Basically I'm making a 1/2 gallon traditional mead...(already have a yeast starter thats been going for 2 hrs. I plan on pitching tomorrow, boy that thing is going nuts I'm using Red star "Premier cuvee") I want to make as strong a mead as possible, so since my yeast selection has a tolerence of 18%, how much honey per 1/2 gallon do I need to use to achieve that?
I did a ratio thing based on what a 5 gallon mead and a 1 gallon mead produce per pound of honey, and I came up with a figure of 3.27 lbs for a 18% mead using 1/2 gallon must. LoL, am I right or did I get thrown out at second base.

Please advise (ASAP) and as always, have a great evening.

Regards, Jagland

 

[buzzerj]

Wow you're just making 2 quarts of mead? Quite a small batch. If it was myself I'd just use 1.75 to 2 lbs. honey maximum. But then I'd also get one of the 15 clean gallon jugs I have in the garage and make a full gallon (with 3.5 lbs. honey).

Best of luck on your batch Jagland.

 

[Kee]

You can force it higher than 18%. It will be harsher and take more time to mellow, but you can do it. You should do a search for high alchohol meads. I don't know if it's worth the work for 1/2 g, though.

Good luck.

 

[akueck]

I think you're off by about a factor of 2. 2 lbs in 1/2 gal will be more than enough.

 

[Jagland]

thanks for the reply guys, 1/2 gal. does seem not worth the effort, but i'm bored and I have a 1/2 gal. glass carboy just sittn there lookn at me, and 3 lbs of honey in the cabinet.

Akueck, you sure about your figures? it seems that if 5 gal. of must produces 1% alc. per 1lb of honey and 1 gal. of must produces 5% alc. per 1 lb of honey then math says that for every encrament of .50 (1/2) gallon produces .50% (1/2) of alc.
so with that in mind, I have 1 lb of honey in a 1/2 gallon of must producing 5.5% alc.
since I want a 18% mead (18 / 5.5 = 3.27 lbs)

lol. maybe i'm just lost in space! still dont have my hydro... yet

 

[akueck]

I'm pretty sure. If 1 lb/gal is 5%, then 1/2 lb per 1/2 gal is also 5% just as 5 lb in 5 gal would be 5%. 3.5 times 5 is roundabout 18 (17.5 if you're picky), so you need 3.5 times 1/2 lb of honey in your 1/2 gal batch, which is 1.75 lb (or perhaps 1.8 lb). 2 lbs will hopefully leave you a little sweetness, though with well cared for yeast, you can eat through that last bit too. Keep in mind that honey varies in sugar (water) content, so this is all just an estimate. Use a hydrometer to be sure.

Check out the Mead Calculator (linked from the main page, not the forum) and play with some numbers. It does all the math for you.

 

[Jagland]

Spok, your lojic supercedes my folly, I fully see the error of my ways, in my calc's I was using 1 variable, when obviously there were 2! Thanks Akueck.

I gave the mead calc. one more try, this time I saw the "help file" and got it figured out.
Buzz your numbers r right on from dry to sweet...But I think u already know that!

Kee, I am trying to force alchol as high as I can, just playing around with this batch, doing everything in increments to baby that alc. right on up there.

Thanks for your comments.

Regards, Jagland